Months in the planning, my son Ty took his girlfriend, Hannah, up to the Hunter Valley on Sunday, having told her he'd booked her a hot air balloon flight on Monday morning for her birthday. We were already in the area, incognito, as he'd asked me to take photographs of the event.
We were up early the next morning and when he texted that they were on site at Peterson House for the pre-flight briefing we drove down the road and parked nearby. The place was alive with people, it was going to be a busy morning. Ty then texted they were in a Landcruiser with a balloon behind it and were heading out. He'd put his location sharing on and I enabled it as we followed his vehicle and another Landcruiser out of the grounds. Behind us we could see three buses also beginning to leave for the journey to the optimal takeoff zone.
The Landcruiser drivers obviously new the route and sped off at a rate that had us quickly falling behind. As they turned off onto other roads we lost site of them and were relying on location sharing to be able to follow them. Eventually they turned off onto an unmarked road and seemed to be heading into the bush. Bare in mind it was pitch dark, there were kangaroos aplenty (a danger for drivers at night and at dawn) and being in a Tesla which is not equipped for Australian regional roads and their potholes, we were beginning to hold up the buses. We pulled over and let them pass. This was a wise move as we were then able to follow them down the side road and to the takeoff zone: a paddock in the middle of the bush. Already briefed, one of the staff suggested where we could park to remain incognito.
Not long afterwards Ty texted to say we could come over, he'd popped the question. I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story.
:: rand
Your captivating photos perfectly seize the magical moment. Huge congrats to the beautiful couple! "Command prompt: all blast valves, open now!"—simply breathtaking. A morning to remember! ✨💍✨